Frontline Chronicles : The Beginning
by Whihoshi
Summary: The beginning of a series of stories about the life of a pilot in the GTVA. Please R
1. Prologue and Chapter One

Prologue  
It has been three years since the Shivans were finally defeated and the _GTVA_ has started work on re-establishing a link to the Sol jump node, as well as exploring further systems. Technology has not advanced much, the proud starships remaining the same in appearance. Commerce has blossomed since the Shivans were beaten, but with that came a boom in civil wars. Soon another faction, similar to the _Hammer of Light_, was formed, called the _Mask of Tojo_. They soon captured some of the jump nodes and had risen to almost the same power status as the _GTVA_ in just a short time.  
  
Two years after the fall of the Shivans was the most memorable event in history, the disappearance of a war class starship Goliath, similar to the _GTVA_ Colossus. It was during the first test of a new device, which would let any ship bigger than a transport ship jump to any node from any system. However, the Goliath never appeared at its destination, and did not appear in any other known system. Approximately 35,000 crew were onboard when it vanished, rumours soon spread that they may have ended up back at Sol. However, many theorise that the device malfunctioned while they were in subspace and they are forever stuck there. Whatever happened, no trace of them was ever found, not even space debris.  
  
Most recently, mercenaries have started appearing, although most went bankrupt and the rest were hired out by the _MoT_. The systems that are between the borders of _GTVA_ space and _MoT_ space have seen many skirmishes, although most battles occur deep within the territory of the factions. This war is far from over, and many pilots will die as a result of it…  
  
Chapter 1: Death comes quietly  
The GTCv _Lion-Head_, a Deimos class corvette, lurched to one side as a bright flash filled the area, the hull of the ship then began to glow orange before a beam of red pierced it through, crew members, metal and panels being sucked out into space. The turrets still fired at the Hecate class starship, which didn't seem to be taking on any damage apart from a few destroyed flak turrets. Around it fighters and bombers attempted to hold back the overwhelming force of the ships pouring from the Hecate's hangar. Multicoloured streaks filled space as cockpits were destroyed, engines went critical, missiles blew up before they left their launchers…chaos reigned. Meanwhile, quite a distance from the _Lion-Head_, a Hercules MKII floated dead in space, the nose bent awkwardly, the fin destroyed and the engines completely wiped out. The pilot inside slowly regained consciousness, looking out of his cockpit at the madness outside.   
  
**_It was like a cornered mouse taking on a fat cat with a pistol…we didn't have a chance from the start. I watched helplessly as another beam sliced the front off of the __Lion-Head_…decapitating the king of the jungle…through the radio I could hear the desperate cries of the pilots and crewmembers as both turrets and fighters mercilessly slaughtered them. Then their bombers launched the helios bombs. Space temporarily lit up as the five bombs struck the headless Lion, reducing it to chunks of debris and dead bodies. This was it…this was the end they had all foreseen…the moment we had feared since we got the message. All we could do now was watch as oblivion placed the black cloth on its head and sentenced us to death.**


	2. Chapter two

Chapter 2: Hello army, Goodbye freedom  
Ten years earlier (3 years after the Shivan's defeat)  
The Elysium transport entered the hangar of the GTI RoseBud slowly, technicians and pilots getting out of the way as it set down gently on the smooth hangar floor, behind it the hangar doors closed shut, sealing out the void as the hangar bay shields deactivated. A ramp then opened and lowered, clanking as it hit the floor, making one of the engineers working on a Loki jump and drop his tools.  
  
After a short pause there was a series of clanks as the passengers walked off the ship, they were new recruits fresh from the training grounds and ready to be put to good use. Among them was Morgan Freeground, a fairly skilled pilot who wasn't very talkative at times and mainly kept to himself, occasionally preferring the company of others. He wore baggy jeans that had seen more than their fair share of wear and tear, a black t-shirt with the old symbol for the suicide kings on it and a thick, leather flight jacket with the barracudas symbol on it.  
  
**_The station looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside…maybe it was just because I was used to living in the small training installation. We all seemed to get dirty looks off of the crewmembers, but I didn't expect any better…we were the new people, it was our job to do the menial and worthless jobs. It was also our job to be cannon fodder so the more skilled pilots don't get killed. I could already tell some of the other new recruits were becoming nervous, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They were fooled by the false claims on the advertisements saying "Join the army, see some ACTION!" or "Excitement is the __GTVA_". Although I doubt they would be so eager to join if the adverts said "Join the bloody massacre today!" or maybe even "Sign away your freedom to the _GTVA_".**  
  
As Morgan slowed down to escape being cramped within the crowd of pilots, one of the less skilled recruits (nicknamed rookie by the other recruits), ran up to him and started walking with him looking very pale. "I never thought I would actually get to be here…I mean…I'm finally going to be a bomber pilot! Man those Boanerges look so cool! Don'tcha think so?" He looked at Morgan, who just looked straight ahead, not seeming to respond at all before finally replying with  
"I don't really care…they're just one more 'rock' for the _GTVA_ to throw at the enemy…" His reply was cold and heartless, but it didn't even mildly crush the 'rookie'.  
"Hey, you haven't seen me at my full potential yet…I'm a real bad ass when I'm in the pilot seat of a bomber." He seemed overly enthusiastic as the colour returned to his face. Morgan just smirked and laughed.  
"Yeah you're bad alright…I think our last flight exam proved that much…I'm surprised you even got here." He perked up a little, remembering the mockery of an exam that the 'rookie' did. If he flew like that in a real mission he wouldn't last five minutes.  
  
"…Oh, my name's Ben, nice to meet you! Ugh…what's your name?" Ben was now stood in front of him and walking backwards as they went to the briefing room to receive their official welcome and be assigned to their squadrons.  
"Morgan…but don't get too comfortable around me kid. Since I doubt you'll end up in the same squadron as me…you'll most probably end up in some rookie squadron designed purely to do the menial missions like guarding an asteroid." Ben frowned suddenly and ran back to the crowd, but not before giving Morgan the finger. Morgan just shook his head, not at all impressed.  
  
**_I honestly didn't know what squadron he would end up in…but I desperately hoped he wouldn't be in mine. As we got closer to the briefing room the corridors darkened in shade, not because of the lack of lights, but merely because that is the way they were painted, most probably so people knew how deep into the station they were. The briefing room wasn't very big, and barely fit us all in…plus we had to wait there for about one hour before the welcoming committee showed up. He was heavily bearded and looked like he needed some sleep desperately, plus he had the gruff voice of a heavy smoker._**  
  
"Welcome cadets. As you know, you are here because we have looked through your results and see that you all possess great potential. Today you will be assigned to your squadrons, then tomorrow they will send a representative to pick you up, which will most likely be the squadron leader. After that you are in their capable hands and will be trained under their strict guidance. Your training will be in real combat situations so this won't be another chance to play around…that means you Johnson." There are a few laughs from the pilots before the General coughs hard to shut them up. "Let's get on with this please, I know how much you want to get out of here quickly. Ok…Johnson, Kornite and Doodlebug…you're assigned to the 178th Falcons. Biggins, Fornight and James…the 93rd Squid Launchers. Bassfold, Torque, Nightshard, Hersight, Bloggs, Harveys and the Pegasi twins…you'll all be in the 67th Overlords, congratulations." Morgan cursed under his breath, the Overlords were famous as the best squadron in the _GTVA_; They only hired the very best recruits that scored the highest. He could almost feel Ben sneering at him. "Everyone else, apart from Duclos, Freeground and Porter, are in the 21st Gators squadron. Duclos, Freeground and Porter, you'll be in the 132nd Jaguars."  
  
**_It hit me like a bullet from a gun, the complete horror of being stranded in the same squadron as Ben, and also being in a squadron that wasn't even known among recruits. How could I ever be proud of being in an obscure squadron. By now I could plainly see Ben grinning smugly…I was going to be in for the talking of a lifetime when I left the room…just my luck._**


End file.
